| A Response to Rick Burns |
“No Job for Old Men” (January/February 2009) was the saddest story I’ve ever read in Soccer Journal – and I’ve been reading the publication since the mid-1970s. That makes me just a few years younger than Rick Burns’ self-described “old man” – but my experience has been immeasurably different.
Sure, players have changed over the years. The world is a very different place now than it was just three decades ago, so young soccer players bring a different set of references, a different way of thinking and operating than they used to. That’s natural.
Rick laments the lack of communication with his players. I find the opposite to be true. When I realized my high school players were not responding to my emails because they were not reading them – emails, for teenagers, have gone the way of telegrams – I started texting them. They now get back to me instantly (most of the time) and initiate conversations that way, too. Texting has opened up a new window on their world—and they understand that I’m not stuck back in time myself.
Rick says that his players no longer empathize, noting that only one asked how his ill mother was faring. When my father died, most of my players showed up at the funeral – and this was several months after our season had ended.
More important, they empathize with each other. Two years ago, during the state tournament, two consecutive games went to penalty kicks. During both, our players spontaneously stood with their arms around each other, willing their teammates on to victory. Only one player missed his shot – and everyone rushed to embrace him.
When we lost a state championship match, they made their final cool down run arm-in-arm. Then – entirely on their own – they gathered together. They talked about how much the season had meant to them, and how much they’d gotten out of their victories (and final defeat). One word kept recurring: “Fun.” Unlike Rick, I have been blessed that our players continue to have fun.
I enjoy my fellow coaches – the veterans who are my age and the young ones who bring new ideas as they eagerly take their place as our state’s next generation of mentors. When I speak with college coaches about our players, I am impressed at the professionalism they show as educators and the interest they show in my players both as athletes and human beings. On several occasions, college coaches have said of players, “He’s not right for us, but let me make a few calls to other coaches for you.” Sometimes they even called their own league rivals.
Of course, I’ve experienced some of Rick’s frustrations. I’ve had players who didn’t “get it” (though, in the vast majority of cases, they end up re-connecting a few years later, and their growth since high school is astonishing to see). I’ve had parents who attempted to undermine the lessons I tried to teach.
But (I hope) my passion for this great profession has not wavered. My faith in young people has not faded; if anything, I am more optimistic about their potential than ever. And – thankfully – I have not wandered from job to job. I believe continuity is important, and I am proud of the fact that I am the head coach at the same school where I played (and only the third in our 50-year history).
I felt sad while reading Rick’s story – sad for him, and for the young men and women he coached without fully relating to. But I thank Soccer Journal for printing the piece, and for allowing me to reflect on my own coaching arc. It’s mid-January, but today more than ever, I cannot wait for next fall’s season to begin.
Dan Woog, Boys Soccer Coach, Staples High School, Westport, Conn., www.StaplesSoccer.com.
This article originally appeared in the March-April 2009 issue of Soccer Journal.
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